You Never Came
by Diminuendo
Summary: -ONE SHOT- After the war with Naraku, the only one who can come through the well is Inuyasha for Kagome no longer holds the Shikon. Every five days , Kagome waits by the well for her hanyou to come. But why hasn't he come back this time?


**AN: Well, this is a one-shot, there's really no point in bugging me for a sequel as you'll obviously know by the end of the fic. Anyway, this will only be posted once in this lifetime so I'd like some feedback before it's kicked off to the 50th page or so of the Inu-Yasha section. Go ahead. You can read now.**

**You Never Came**

**by**

**Iris**

_I can see her smiling at me. Soft brown eyes glowing as a healthy flush covers her porcelain cheeks. The wind whispers by, causing raven locks to swirl about her person in a whirl of bluish black._

_Kagome..._

_"Kaze no Kizu!"_

_A rush of wind as Tetsusaiga glows gold and sends the attack towards the slender youkai. She dodges swiftly and the attack misses as one of hers hits me again. Blood drops to the stained dirt as the new wound opens._

_"La, is that all you can do?" ruby red eyes sparkle as the crane youkai darts away again, "I thought the protector of the Shikon would put up more of a fight, no?"_

_I growl low in my throat as her taunts continue, I think a change of tactics is in order._

_"Hijin Ketsusou!"_

_Claws of blood fly through the clearing, catching everything insight. For the first time, the youkai drops, a deep cut opening on one shoulder blade. And this time the blood dropping to the sand is hers as well._

_"Inu-Yasha!"_

_Startled, I whirl to see Sango panting, maroon eyes wide in horror as her hand instinctively moves towards the Hiraikotsu that disappeared years ago._

_Too late._

_The attack hits me from behind, knocking Tetsusaiga out of reach with one swipe. I snarl as I whirl around, half-crouching to protect myself. The crane laughs, a delicate tinkling sound that makes my ears hurt._

_"Saa, you're not much fun anymore, Inu-chan." she slid a thin rapier out of its sheath by her side, "I'm sorry we can't play any longer, I've got things to do, people to see, objects to take."_

_Her eyes glitter as she lunges forward, seemingly floating through the air on a single sunbeam. And with the speed that only crane youkai have, she thrust, sliding the poisoned metal into my stomach and out again._

_And my world is filled with pain._

_The burning starts as a mild inconvenience at which I half-turn to swipe at her. Only to find my limbs heavy and leaden, unable to move. The ground rushes up and I crash into the bloodied turf face first. Everything swirls in little waves and I distantly hear Sango screaming for Miroku as she rushes over._

_The youkai is gone._

_-ba bum ba bum-_

_The wish._

_-ba bum ba bum-_

_I wished..._

_-ba bum ba bum-_

_I wished to never turn full youkai again. Wasn't that it? To never harm my friends._

_-ba bum ba bum-_

_Poison. Even if I turned youkai, would it really even save me?_

_-ba bum ba bum-_

_I see her again. Smiling at me. Always smiling._

_-ba bum ba bum-_

_I'm sorry...Kagome..._

_-ba bum ba bum-_

_So sorry..._

            *Where is he?*

            She sat curled up by the edge of the well, her heart clinging to that last strand of hope.

            *Why isn't he here yet?*

            It was after Naraku that they found that the well only worked for Inu-Yasha. It didn't work for her anymore. Not without the Shikon no Tama.

            *Inu-Yasha...*

            A tear slid down her cheek.

            *He's late.*

            They had made a deal. He would come every five days to pick her up and take her back. She would stay three days before leaving and then the process would repeat.

            Where had she gone wrong?

            What had she done?

            *Inu-Yasha, where are you?*

            Another tear slid down to splash somewhere below in the depths of the Bone-Eater's Well.

            -plip-

            Something was wrong, there was nothing down there but dirt. Yet...

            She climbed down the ladder and made that short drop to the bottom. Once again, she did not go through. There was not glow there was nothing but darkness, dirt, and a sheet of paper...that hadn't been there before.

            Shakily, she climbed out again and turned on her flashlight. The paper was yellow with age, the writing spindly and hard to read in the wavering light.

            _Kagome-chan,_

_            I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't do a better job of protecting you. I'm sorry I can't be there. Sango and Miroku have exact directions about sending this letter to you. I hope it gets there. If you're reading this then I'm never coming back. And I'm sorry I can't protect you anymore._

_                                                                                                ~Inu-Yasha_

            The letter dropped to the dirt with an inaudible thud. Tears streamed down her face in a salty wash as she curled in on herself. One year. She'd waited one full year.

            "Inu-Yasha..." her voice caught in her throat as the door to the well shrine opened behind.

            "Kagome?"

            She looked up to see the blurred form of her mother, who climbed down the steps at her lack of response.

            "Kagome-chan?"

            Another tear slid down her cheek as her mother knelt down beside her.

            "Kagome-chan, are you alright?"

            "He never came, Mama." she whispered as she was picked up and gently taken out of the well house, "He never came."

            Higurashi Taoko looked sadly at her daughter in her arms, "I know, Kagome-chan, I know."

            "He never came back."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-Yasha.**


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